Journey made popular the phrase “Don’t Stop Believin'”. So, Phillies fans, just as the song preaches, don’t give up just yet.

The New York Yankees may have jammed the dagger into this series, by way of a 7-4 comeback victory last night, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. The Phillies have work to do, and that beings tonight with Cliff Lee going against A.J. Burnett.

Lee has been absolutely spectacular throughout the playoffs; he’s been everything the Phillies hoped for and more. He needs to be every bit as perfect tonight as he has been through the first four starts this postseason. His complete-game six-hitter in Game 1 seems like ages ago, but it’s something to start with. If Lee can shut New York down and go deep into this game, the Phillies could be looking at a Game 6 in the Bronx.

The man to try and finish out this World Series on enemy soil is A.J. Burnett. We saw what he is capable of in Game 2 of the World Series (7 inn, 1 ER, 9 K) but we know he can be wild and at times will fall apart as he did in the Angels series. Phillies fans need to be as loud as humanly possible and knock this guy off his perch.

Offensively, the front four need to do a little bit of damage. Jimmy Rollins has been absent, rarely able to hit anything hard, and Shane Victorino is struggling as well. Chase Utley has been the most consistent of the bunch, and the Phillies need more of the same from him. Ryan Howard is the most heartbreaking of all. He is just 3-for-17 in the series with 10 brutal punchouts. If he has something left in the tank, now would be the time to burn it.

Interesting stat: A.J. Burnett threw 84.6 percent of his first pitches for strikes in Game 2. Over the course of the regular season, he tossed just 54 percent of first pitch strikes. Was Game 2 a fluke? It’s very possible.

Don’t stop being a fan, don’t stop the love you have for this team, and for at least one more night, don’t stop believin’. Three wins in a row is absolutely possible.

High hopes, everyone…

Your Gameday Beer – Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale
I’ve purposely stayed away from Barleywines, but tonight with the Phillies’ backs against the wall, it’s time to bring out the big guns. At 9% ABV, Bigfoot is a relatively tame foray into the category but certainly stronger than most traditional beers. Sierra Nevada boasts its “dense, fruity bouquet, an intense flavor palate and a deep reddish-brown color.” The strong malt flavor is balanced by bittersweet hops making for an interesting Ale. This type of brew goes well with desserts like all those cheesecakes Sen. Spector has coming his way. – By Brian

It ain’t over till its over. A win tonight makes it 3-2 and remember many people say that we haven’t seen the best of Pedro yet and he is due to get the last laugh vs the Yanks. The big question is not overlooking games 5 and 6, if phils win both of these games, who starts game 7? Can’t be Cliff Lee on 2 days rest. Can’t be Martinez pitching back to back games. Can’t be Joe Blanton on 3 days rest. J.A Happ? Can’t start a rookie in NY for game 7 vs the powerful yanks. That means if Phillies win tonight and Wednesday, it will be Cole Hamels vs C.C Sabathia in Game 7.

Anyone going to the game should spread the word on this to everyone they pass in the stadium. Start this chant so loud that it can be heard by Harry in heaven: “Har-ry Kal-as ” Remind the whole world who this season is dedicated to!

I’m so pumped up!!!!! This game is ours and this series is ours….so let’s take what’s ours and party down Broad St…again and again and again and again!!!!! I have never been so confident in the phillies as I am now…these boyz are going to be become Philly Legends right before our eyes.

First let’s stop playing like a AAA team, so worse case scenario so we don’t look like we succumbed to the Yankees mystique. That’s unacceptable we’re better than this. 2] let’s hope Charlie protests the multitude of of mound visits or at the very least we ask for time in the batters box alot to fluster AJ. 3] let’s be aggressive but not dumb (werth that means you) on the base paths 4] adjust to the umpires strike zone if AJ looks like he did last outing 6] no hacks at that curveball in the dirt.

Hey, some guy on the other thread (for high hopes perhaps?) said that there’s supposed to be bad weather headed up the east coast towards the end of the week, and if that happened and we get thursday and maybe friday postponed, Cliff Lee can in fact pitch game 7. Yeah two straight days postponed is a long shot, but even if its just thursday, that’ll be short rest. And I’m definitely willing to try Clifton Phifer on short rest for the first time ever in a game 7 over the alternative. Yes, thinking it hurts bad enough. He made an enemy out of his fans this postseason.

Go to Yahoo Sports and find the article “Skipping Lee Was
Fatal for the Phillies”. This is what I said on Sunday morning,
pleading with Chollie to change his mind and pitch Lee in game 4. No so much about game 4, but having Lee available to also pitch game 7. Lets hope that Luck overrides Stupid. Go Phillies!

About time they woke the heck up. Their offense is capable of destroying teams but their defense and goal tending has been suspect. Granted Carolina is awful and Tampa is ok but still, they handed both of them pretty easily. Let’s hope they can keep it going.

I must say, it was fun coming home and being able to turn on a sporting event. For a few minutes I felt like I was from the dreaded Left Coast.

To my knowledge there is no rule about the number of mound visits per say, but if a Manager comes out to the mound to see the same pitcher in the same inning twice then that pitcher must be removed from the game. Other than that, I do not know of a rule limiting how many visits can occur in an inning or a game. But I did read on ESPN that the owners would discuss this very topic over the off season as apparently MLB was not really all that happy with what the Yankees did last night.

Alright time to settle down Lee. And Jimmy seriously enough of this slump. Good for MLB… it was an obvious stall besides they can’t argue instant replay interupts the flow of the game (ridculous to begin with) if a team takes up a cumulative 20 minutes in mound conferences

I’m tempering my enthusiasm, because the Yanks are a great team and they’ll fight to the end. But.. awesome, awesome start to this game. The boys are all riled up and ready to bring this back to the Bronx. Clifton will settle down after some first inning jitters.

I love this team and I’m proud of them no matter what.
LET’S GO FIGHTINS!!!

Honestly, Ed, if I didn’t think there were any hope, I’d turn off the TV and go to sleep. There’s always a chance. Remember that the BoSox won the ALCS after a 3-1 deficit. Hmn… who was the team they beat?

I’ll tell you, I have no opinion on whether or not to pull Lee if the Phillies have a big lead. That is a really tough call, both sides make sense. But you are facing elimination tonight. You need to stick with your horse.

Truthfully HK, it doesn’t matter if Lee is pulled now or throws 130 pitches. For a pitcher, the issue isn’t how many pitches so much as how many times you have to get your arm lose. What i mean by that is, Lee as a starter is conditioned to pitch every fifth day. So in normal circumstances he throws tonight, rests his arms for the next two days, then on Thursday he would throw a bullpen session, have Friday off and then Saturday would be ready to go.

So the issue is that really Lee’s arm would not be ready for any work until Thursday, which technically he could pitch in relief and that would be used as his “bullpen session” day.

So in theory, if we get to a game 7, it is possible to see Lee again but it won’t be based on what he does tonight.

The Phillies are not quitters = although I must admit I quit on them. Who knows? Let’s just win this one and worry about gm6 on Wednesday.

As far as a 2nd rate city – no way. I know SpankyYankee probably doesn’t remember what a championship parade looks like. Last yr – we had well over a million – nearly a million and ½ fans at last yrs parade. Yes there were some idiots, but I’d say in the great majority we were classy, caring, compassionate and appreciative fans…

If you look up 2nd rate – you will not see classy, caring, compassion or appreciate in their definition.

I think the Phillies have shown a lot of people, especially themselves, they are not quitters. No matter what the results of the series end up being.

BTW There will be only ONE ‘WFC’ & ONE ‘ the team to beat’ & those honors will ALWAYS reside in Philadelphia.

Yes… & if the NYY win the W/S, they will be only ‘WC” – never the ‘WFC”

damn Ryan Howard. We’re down 3-1 games in the WS and you give away a free run like a complete a$$clown. I never did that when I played in Little League when I was 10. The head case label is now more than accu. It’s very fitting. WTF is wrong with you.

I want to see the Phils get 3 runs now…maybe they can get Lee out of the game before he hits 100 pitches…save something for game 7. But only if the Phils are up by 6 to 7 runs – 4 run lead is not enough with the bullpen.

I’d keep my mouth shut if I were you Mr. Coward… Remember how much of a sure thing the 2004 ALCS seemed when the Yankees went up 3-0?? The more bleep you talk, the more crushing a potential collaspe is going to be. Get your casket with the Yankees logo ready…… If you act now, you’ll get an additional 15% discount. I’m the whiz….I’m the whiz…..

Actually, it’s hard to declare whether Yankee fans are scum. Since every game I have been to Yankee stadium, both old and new I was surrounded by a bunch of stock brokers just trying to impress clients. It’s just a big convention center that sometimes hosts baseball games.

HEY LOOK AT ME! I’M AN IDIOT. I TYPE IN ALL CAPS. I HAVE NO FRIENDS. I HAVE TO GO ON THE INTERNET AND TELL BAD JOKES TO GET ATTENTION BECAUSE I HAVE NO SOCIAL SKILLS AND NOBODY TO TALK TO WHILE MY FAVORITE TEAM IS IN THE WORLD SERIES.

I really wish people would have to register for access to these boards. I would gladly pay money every year to prevent some of the people that come on here from getting the opportunity to just post complete and utter garbage.

My brother worked up on Wall Street in the late 90’s. He used to get free tickets all of the time. We would sit 18 rows off the field between home and 3rd. The people around us couldn’t care less about the games.

YES WE NOW GO BACK TO THE LAND OF RAT INFESTED CITY OF NY. THE POOR AND HOMELESS. YEA BABY. We need a closer next year mr. jr. madson is horrible. im just happy that kate hudson had to stay late and now go home in fill aroid up with some juice. he is a homo anyway.

wow what a game, u can never count this team out, it wasnt exactly a pretty win but a win is a win. i love how so many comments last night were from yankees fans bashing the phillies and tonight, u dont hear shit from them. Its not gonna be easy but we are back in the series and that is the most you can ask for. GO PHILLIES!!

The Phillies don’t have to tie it now, they are ahead because they are the champs. They have to fall behind now to lose, and it doesn’t happen unless cameras stick over walls.
329 liitle baby home run.

well christopher has a point, one hell of a series. But honestly, Charlie made some really BONEHEADED moves tonight trying his hardest to give the Yankees the game. This was a win, with alot of runs, but kind of in a way an embarrasing win. 95% of the time, if Manuel wants to put a bench player in, he would take out Ibanez to put better defense in. Very glad to see that homer by Ibanez, but honestly, as much as I love watching Ibanez play, I think Francisco could have had that ball if he put Francisco in left rather then Center. Then comes the Sac Fly. I REALLY dont think Vic would have let A-Roid score on that pop fly had the rest stayed the same. Then I had to question taking Chan Ho out. I was really questioning it, and getting worried when Madson put first and 3rd no outs. Mad Dog got it done, but it wasnt a pretty end of the game. The rest of the game was rather beautiful, but it doesnt matter if its a pretty win or an ugly win, its the win that matters. I hope this was the spark the Phillies offense needed. If the Phillies can continue some of this against Pettite and Pedro pitches anything like he did in game 2, there is a good shot at Game 7.

didnt like how rollins approached that grounder in 8th that couldnt get out of his glove – if game was a 1 run game at that point all of our collective hearts would have dropped thru the floor!! – also i think madson is worse than lidge in the 9th – he really looks uncomfortable in there!! – think we really dodged a bullet tonight!! – we can absolutely do this!! – 1 game at a time!!!

Brian I told you all year Howard wasnt clutch or Werth 🙂
The decisions were head scratchers. A win is a win though.
2 more and Ill be very happy and excited.
How is chan ho not the defacto closer? the yanks use Rivera for innings 8 and 9. Id use Chan ho for 8 and 9
I shouldnt have been clutching my chair in the 9th. But its never easy with the phils.

Andrew you said that, but do you recall the NLDS and NLCS? Howard did pretty well in the NLCS especially, but not to shabby in the NLDS. LOL. Werth, LOL. He has come up with some big shots even this WS (2 homers in one game 5 in the post season) but sadly the Phillies pitching decided to go back to what they were the first month of the season. Howard has been CRAP this WS, I hope he does something in game 6. If he does something in game 6, he often comes up big in several games in a row. Either way, we live to watch another game.

Don’t you remember what happened when we brought Chan Ho back out for another inning in the game after he had come off the DL.. no outs, and put he put two runners on. I suppose that might be because he was humming at 96 mph in his first appearance and was a little tuckered out the next day esp with the shot of post season adreniline.

CSN post game Michael Barcan says he’d hope to see Hamels in a game seven and you could see Ricky Bo wince and looked like we wanted to throw his microphone at Barcan’s head. Hilarious

My problem is Manuel let Madson face Matsui with Scott Eyre available. Maybe Matsui is known to struggle with change-up’s. How many time’s has Madson been used in a row. Usually three and he needs rest. Then leaving in Ibanez who did turn it around at the plate tonight but has that Sportsman Hernia and should have been pulled at that late in the game. Hasn’t Manuel seen the chemistry between our BP and that Yankee line-up from Hell to know six runs means nothing. What drove me insane has been the choking and bad decision making in the field. Ut’s glove flip yesterday and Rollins bad glove to throwing hand transfer both had me throwing crap around the room…and both times it cost us. We have to crush the ball and field flawlessly. Oh and Howards brain fart with the man on third and the Damon squibbler up the line. No more Spicoli moments …first it just ugly baseball, second what we did in the NL Wild Card and NLCS was so amazing that we don’t go out 4-1 because we folded to the Yankee mystique

I dont know J Reed, I dont know that Howard really did anything wrong with the “brain fart”. Maybe he should have let the ball go foul, but maybe it wouldnt have. True it would have been better to go trot backwards keeping the runner on third instead of turning his back, but there was no play at 2nd I dont think, took the out. Could have done it better, but at least he didnt take the ball and throw it straight to home or 3rd, Ive seen that before from other players on other teams (actually I remember who did it on the Phillies, but that ended up costing a run and and out.) I would rather him do that and get the out, then either throw it to 3rd or home and not get an out, or go to 2nd when Jeter was that far to third. I think regardless the runner was going. I think he didnt make it look pretty, but took the sure out. Ibanez missing A-Roids double off the thumb of his glove has more to worry about then what Howard did.

Actually Howard fielding it was a good because Damon has been on fire and letting it go foul would give him another chance….what he should of done I think was to charge Damon and tag him out…Perhaps this would have held the runner on 3rd, or caused him to run back to bag or maybe if howard was close enough after the tag flip to Ruiz for the tag out at home.